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A court in eastern China has issued death sentences to 11 members of the Ming family, a criminal syndicate that operated scam networks in Myanmar, according to BBC reports citing state media.
In total, 39 members of the family faced sentencing on September 29 in Wenzhou. Five others received death sentences suspended for two years, 11 were given life imprisonment, and the remaining defendants were jailed for periods ranging from five to 24 years.
The Ming family, part of one of four influential clans controlling Laukkai in Myanmar’s Shan State, turned the border town into a base for gambling, drug trafficking, and large-scale online fraud. Investigators revealed that their activities had generated over CNY10bn ($1.4bn), with gambling dens alone moving several billion dollars annually.
Court findings showed that since 2015, the syndicate engaged in crimes such as telecom fraud, illegal casinos, narcotics trade, and prostitution. Members were also held responsible for the deaths of workers, including one case where employees attempting to flee were shot to stop them returning to China, the BBC reports.
The group’s most infamous compound, Crouching Tiger Villa, reportedly housed thousands of workers subjected to beatings and torture. At its peak, the Ming-run centres enslaved more than 10,000 people, many coerced into orchestrating elaborate scams targeting victims worldwide. The United Nations has labelled the wider industry a “scamdemic”, with over 100,000 foreign nationals, mostly Chinese, tricked into forced labour.
A turning point came two years ago when ethnic armed groups launched an offensive, ousting Myanmar’s military from parts of Shan State and seizing Laukkai. Observers believe Beijing tacitly backed the operation. The Ming patriarch, Ming Xuechang, is reported to have taken his own life, while other relatives were captured and extradited to China, with some expressing public remorse. Thousands of scam workers have also since been repatriated.
Beijing’s latest rulings underscore its determination to clamp down on cross-border fraud. Earlier this year, Chinese pressure prompted Thailand to target scam hubs along its frontier with Myanmar. Yet the business has proved resilient, shifting much of its operations to Cambodia while maintaining a foothold in Myanmar.
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